The people participating in these Tea Parties understand the purpose of the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution.

One irony here is that Barack Obamacompletely misunderstands the purpose of the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution.

But my journey is part of a larger journey – one shared by all who’ve ever sought to apply the values of their faith to our society. It’s a journey that takes us back to our nation’s founding, when none other than a UCC church inspired the Boston Tea Party and helped bring an Empire to its knees.

– Barack Hussein Obama
June 23, 2007

Our founders fought for independence from a tyrannical and oppressive government in favor of freedom and recognition of our God-given (“endowed by their Creator”) inalienable rights.

But instead of understanding that, Obama thinks it was about bringing “an Empire to its knees”.

Our Founders didn’t fight to bring the British Empire to its knees. We didn’t care what they did anywhere else in the world. It wasn’t about ending the British Empire, it was about declaring our independence from it. It wasn’t about destroying an existing government, it was about breaking free and creating a new one.

So, why does Obama think it was about bringing an Empire to its knees? Because he is a Marxist.

Our country’s founding Revolution exalted the ideals of equality, justice, and democracy, of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all. Marxists have long hailed its progressive significance… The Communist Party today upholds the continuing struggle to realize these ideals. The revolutionary democratic traditions of the United States call for radical change… With Marxism-Leninism guiding our actions, the Communist Party strives to build the broadest unity against global capitalist imperialism now headed by U.S. imperialism, for immediate gains and reforms that benefit working people, and for a progressive democratization of the government, the economy, and society of our country on the road to and after winning socialism.

And what comes after socialism? Communism. They are, after all, the Communist Party USA.

4 Responses to Tea Parties, Old and New

I do agree with your first point. To say that the Revolution is about how it affected England is to completely miss the point of freedom. Obama’s analysis in this quote is indeed flawed. (It is also almost two years old. Has the man really said nothing else about the American Revolution since?)

However, you seem to be falling back on your old fallacies again. Namely, this idea that “Obama thinks X. The Communist Party thinks X. Therefore, Obama is a communist.” This is wrong for a variety of reasons, and I think we’ve been through them enough times that I don’t need to rehash it.

But I will say this. If you continue to put so much faith in any resemblance between someone’s ideals and the ideals of the Communist Party, you’re going to think that a lot of people are communists. Because the reason that communism is flawed isn’t because of its ideals. The philosophy, after all, just comes from an application of the maxim that sharing is good. “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need?” That’s a good maxim! It’s what tells us to donate to charities, to stand up for our brothers, to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. The failing of communism is that while this is a good maxim, it makes a terrible law. Enforced sharing, at least to the extent proscribed by Marx, has been shown to fail terribly.

This isn’t too surprising! There are lots of great maxims that would make bad laws. I mean, really, go read some Aesop and tell me how many morals should be passed by congress. I think you’ll find very few. (“Question now comes on HR 8264, An Act Relative to Looking Before You Leap.”)

So good maxims can make bad laws. But, contrapositively, just because a law is bad doesn’t mean the ideals behind it are flawed. If you shun every statement which is philosophically similar to communism, you’re going to be closing the door on a lot of good ideas.

Anyway, it’s good to hear from you again. Is the sabbatical over, or was this just a one-shot?

Namely, this idea that “Obama thinks X. The Communist Party thinks X. Therefore, Obama is a communist.” This is wrong for a variety of reasons

I challenge Barack “Barry Soetoro” Obama to explain how his agenda is in any way different from the agenda of the Communist Party USA:

The problems of exploitation, oppression, and survival facing humankind can only be solved, ultimately, by the elimination of the exploitative system of capitalism. Our survival depends on a transformation to socialism. The U.S. working class, with a long revolutionary history and many powerful mass movements and organizations, has the potential to make this transition happen. That means building unity for peace, for protecting and expanding democracy, for living-wage jobs, for universal health care, for real equality for all those who are nationally or racially oppressed and women, for an end to the political control of the ultra-right over our political institutions, and for an end to the economic rule of the transnational corporations. Building and strengthening organizations of and alliances between the working class and its allies, winning real unity in the course of struggle, is the path from our current struggles towards socialism.

A Communist Party is essential for Marxists to test revolutionary theory through practice. We are not a debating society wrangling over obscure texts. We are a political movement, and we welcome all who accept our program. As Marx said, “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” The Communist Party USA is about changing the world.

I’ve been blogging too much for my own good, and it’s actually costing me a fair amount of money… I don’t make a cent from blogging, and the time I have been devoting to it has meant that I have neglected the parts of my life that actually do generate income. In the short term I need to give more attention to those areas and less attention to blogging.

That said, I’ve found that it’s very difficult to stay away from blogging. It’s addictive.